No Angel
by pink.personality
Summary: Leah has always been the fastest, but at this point, she's tired of running. On top of that, she's learning the difference between what you want and what you need.
1. Whiskey

Hi all. If you're reading this, thank you so much. I haven't written fiction in years, since I was in high school really. I've been getting into more Leah fiction as of late, and it inspired me to start a new story. I've always been a one shot type of gal when I was writing, and this is my first stab at a chaptered story. I've freelanced for the past couple of years, but fiction is a whole different ball park for me. Seeing as such, please leave constructive reviews! Let me know if you love it or hate it, or what you want to see. And without my editors here, I apologize if there are any typos and missed punctuation.

Here we go!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.** If I did, the things I would do with the Character of Leah Clearwater are endless.

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 _No matter what I do, my life is a joke._

I thought the words quietly to myself as I took another swig of whiskey. I was scrolling through Facebook and looking through pictures of the happy, soon-to-be married couple. It had been a year since I had been home to La Push, and almost two years since the run in with the Volturi. At this point, Facebook was how I kept up everyone on the Rez. Except for Mom and Seth of course since they made sure to video chat or text me at least twice a day. Jake did too, when he wasn't glued to the hip of his darling Nessie.

I took another swig of whiskey before grimacing as I forced the liquid down. Ugh, this shit was awful. I had never been a big drinker, but today, I didn't want to feel anything. I had stolen the bottle from my roommate's stash under the pretense that I would replace it even though I'm sure she wouldn't miss it. I was thankful that I was able to get drunk again. I still phased, but a lot less since I had been living it Seattle, usually only once or twice every few weeks. It was way harder to morph into a giant animal in a highly populated area, believe it or not. And besides that, a part of me wanted to leave my wolf in the past. That had been the whole reason for this move in the first place. I wanted a new start where no one knew I was a wolf, no one felt sorry for me, and no one held me hostage to a life that I didn't pick for myself. It was hard, no doubt, but I was making progress.

The liquor was starting to really hit me and I smiled to myself. At this rate, I may at least be sloppy drunk for a good hour before it started wearing off, kind of like a normal human. It reminded me of the times me and Emily used to sneak liquor from my dad's closet while my parents were at work.

 _Ugh! Fuck Her!_ I shook the thought out of my head before gulping down more whiskey. I didn't want to think about Emily or any of the good times we had. That was the whole point of me getting drunk at 10 a.m.

I was over feeling sorry for myself the day I realized that it would do nothing for my current situation. That's why after the anticlimactic situation with Nessie and the Volturi, I started working my ass off. I got a job at a diner in Forks and slaved away, saving every penny with the goal of leaving La Push. I had never planned on staying there in the first place. My plan had always been to go to UDubb with Sam, get a law degree, and move across country. Even though looking back on it, I doubt that's how it actually would have went, supernatural involvement or not. Sam would never have left his mom alone in La Push, and quite frankly, I wouldn't have wanted to raise a family that far away from my parents. We would have moved back home after college, had an intimate wedding, and started a family. I would have worked at the small law firm in Forks, Sam would have started his own construction company, and we would have been happy with that. At least that's what I tell myself. Now with Sam out the picture and the circumstances under which he exited, my idea of family has changed. I wasn't going to have kids. My dad had passed. My mom had a new life.

I had no reason not to live out my plan, minus Sam of course.

Gulping down more whiskey, I laughed out loud. _Life never goes as planned._

As I drunkingly scrolled through more pictures of the happy couple, I didn't hear the door open behind me.

"Leah, what the entire fuck?"

I jumped in shock before turning around and seeing my roommate staring at me with a mix of concern, confusion, and pity.

I let out a drunken, hearty laugh and a sigh of relief. "Bitch, you scared **the fuck** out of me!"

She walked over to where I was sitting and picked up the bottle of whiskey that I had been drinking from. It was three quarters of the way gone. I didn't even notice until now.

"Leah. What. The. Fuck." She dramatically paused shaking the mostly empty bottle in her hand. "It's barely noon!"

I smiled to myself because I had been drinking since 10 a.m. which meant I was still drunk at noon, and my tolerance for alcohol was becoming more…well, human. Granted, I never had a very high tolerance for alcohol even before the whole werewolf thing, but still. I was making progress towards being normal.

"Don't worry, I'll buy you a new bottle," I assured her with my eyes closed, waving my hand as to tell her to drop her concern.

I felt her weight on the couch as she came to sit by me. I opened my eyes, and all I could see was concern radiating from her eyes. "Fuck the whiskey, Leah. I don't give a fuck, I mean, I'm a bar tender for crying out loud. I've been wanting your non-drinking ass to get drunk with me for the past year." She took my hand in hers before looking me dead in the eye. "Are you okay?"

I looked into Bianca's eyes and saw the caring look of a true friend. I slouched into the couch a bit as her gazed intensified. Bianca had truly become my best friend over the past year.

When I was still living in La Push, looking for apartments in Seattle, I had become hopeless. Everything was way too expensive for me, but I was determined to get out of there. Finally, an add on Craig's List had popped for a roommate to an apartment in which I could afford. I'd almost thought it was too good to be true, especially coming from Craig's List. But I was desperate, and I had my wolf strength. I knew I could take on someone that may be trying to kill me. Much to my surprise, when I went to the apartment to take a look, no serial killer met me at the door. Rather, a young, beautiful, 5'3 brown skinned woman with a huge, curly afro. She looked like she had no problem breaking hearts, but killing people wasn't exactly her line of work. I counted my blessings, took the spot in the apartment, and the two of us have been as thick as thieves ever since. We lived on the top floor of a duplex. It was two bedrooms, and one bath. We had a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen that we shared. It was modest, but for someone like me who had come from humble beginnings and was begging to be free of the town that held me bound, it was a palace.

"You don't have to do this, you know," she added breaking the silence. "I doubt anyone would be mad at you if you didn't."

Bianca knew about Sam and Emily. Well, she knew as much as I could tell her without letting the wolf out of the bag. Her not knowing about the magical implications of imprinting made her hate the two of them even more, which I couldn't deny made me kind of happy. To her, my slimy cousin just stole my man, and for that reason, she believed both of them could go to hell.

I sighed. "I'm fine, B, I promise."

She looked at the bottle then at me to let me know that she wasn't buying it.

"I'm not doing this for Sam, or Emily, or my mom, or anyone else. I'm doing this for me." I stated matter-of-factly. I wasn't lying. No matter how much it sucked, I had made this decision for myself.

Emily and I had always agreed that we would be the Maid of Honor in each other's wedding. Of course, that was before I found out that she would be marrying my first love. The majority of my heart told me to say fuck it and forget the pact we had made when we were preadolescent and had no idea how unfair life could be. However, when she reached out to me asking me to still hold the position in her wedding, something in me made me say yes.

I needed to reassure myself that I was better than the shit hand that life had dealt me.

However, now, I was regretting it. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I wasn't very strong at all.

Bianca shook her head. "My brother stole $200 from me, and I didn't talk to him for almost a year. Your bitch ass cousin steals your life, and you agree to be in the wedding party? We are definitely cut from a different cloth," she laughed. I simply rolled my eyes. She didn't know the half.

I was thankful that she had agreed to be my plus one to the event. We were going down to La Push a couple of weeks early so that I could spend some time with my mom and brother before the wedding. After the ceremony, I was booking it back to Seattle as fast as the car would let me, and who knew when the fuck I would come back to that hellhole again.

"Didn't you say you wanted to be out of here by one o'clock?" Bianca asked.

I shrugged. "Yeah, that was the plan."

"Well, it's almost time to go. And I think it goes without saying that _I'll_ be driving," she stated with accusation in her voice.

I simply stared at the picture of Sam and Emily's engagement photos that were pulled up on my laptop. I felt a mix of emotions. Anger, regret, fear, and sadness. I jumped as Bianca slammed my computer closed before kneeling in front of me and grabbing my hands.

"You're sure this is what you wanna do?" She asked again with an edge that let me know it was ok to say no.

I looked past her and grabbed the whiskey from the coffee table in front of us. Downing the rest of the contents of the bottle, I nodded my head. "I'll go grab my luggage," I said standing up and almost tripping over nothing.

"What the fuck. Alcohol makes me act like Bella's ass. Pre-change." I laughed, mostly to myself as I walked to my room to grab my bags.

"What?" Bianca called to me quizzically.

"Oh, nothing. You'll meet everyone when we get there," I said in a sing-song voice.

"Oh boy." I heard her say under her breath.

My tolerance for alcohol may have been affected, but my wolf hearing was still A1.

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 **Let me know if you want more! Review please, thanks y'all.**


	2. Aliens

I groaned as I was awakened by Bianca singing along to the radio as we rode down the highway. She was off key and loud. My drunken stupor was short lived, and I sat up in my seat attempting to figure out what song B had managed to annihilate.

 _Baby put your arms around me_

 _Tell me I'm a problem_

 _Know I'm not the girl you thought you knew and that you wanted_

 _Underneath the pretty face is something complicated_

 _I come with a side of trouble_

 _But I know that's why you're staying_

 _Because, you're, no, angel, either, baby_

 _No I'm not an angel either but at least I'm trying_

 _I know I drive you crazy, but would you rather that I be a machine_

 _Who doesn't notice when you late or when you're lying_

 _I love you even more than who I thought you were before_

 _'Cause, you're, no, angel, either, baby_

"That's enough!" I couldn't listen to her singing anymore.

She laughed realizing I was now awake before turning the music down. "Well, good morning to you too, sunshine." She frowned a little before asking, "what you got against Beyonce?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nothing," I didn't love or hate her, but Bianca was one of those super fans who would go tooth and nail for their fave. I really didn't want to get her started so I clarified. "I have nothing against her, but I can't listen to you trying to sing her songs. My ears are going to bleed."

Bianca let out a sigh of relief. She was so damn dramatic. "Oh, I was about to say, don't hate on a country girl who made it big." B was from Memphis, and just like any person from the South, she let you know she was proud of her roots every chance she got. Granted, if she didn't tell you, you might not have known because she didn't have much of an accent. It really only came out when she was mad. "Anyway, you were sleep, and I needed something to keep me alert since I had no one to talk to."

I looked out the window at the seemingly infinite greenery we passed. As much as I hated to admit it, a part of me missed running these forests as a wolf. I had come to the conclusion awhile back that I didn't hate being a wolf as much as I hated what being a wolf brought. There was a beauty in being connected to that side of my spirit, but everything comes with a cost.

"So," Bianca started hesitantly. I turned my head to look at her. "You ready to go home?"

I knew what she was asking wasn't really what she was asking. The underlining question was in reference to my episode earlier. Was I ready to face what I was running from? What was hurting me.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready." Truthfully, it wasn't about me being ready as much as it was about me facing my fears. Somehow I believed that if I made it through this wedding, I could have closure. Closure that this was it. The Sam chapter of my life was officially over. Although I already knew that, I couldn't lie and say that there wasn't a part of me that was always wondering what if?

B looked over at me sympathetically. "So let me get this straight. I just, I need to make sure I got it right _one last_ time. You and Emily are cousins and once doubled up as best friends and practically sisters. Sam was your high school sweetheart. You had talks of marriage and the future, then one day he runs off for like two weeks. You're super worried about him. He comes back and he's all 'I think it's better if we break up.' Then, you find out he's been sneaking around with Emily, and they're together. Now, they're getting married and you're the maid of honor?"

I scrunched my face at the explanation I once also believed to be true before I phased and learned about imprinting. However, I nodded my head for her sake.

Bianca sighed in disbelief keeping her eyes on the road. "What's she got that you don't? Two pussies?"

"Bianca, that's gross," I reprimanded her with a frown.

"Seriously, I just don't understand. Granted, I've never seen the bitch, but who's better than you?"

 _Her, clearly_.

Somehow, B could feel the self doubt oozing from my pores.

"Leah, you're easily one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. And when I say beautiful, I mean from the inside out. You're smart, and funny, and witty, and bitchy, and determined. Not to mention you have a figure that people would pay for. Not that it makes or breaks you, but you know." Now that I laughed at, Bianca literally had a figure that women did pay for. She was small in all the conventionally right places, and thick where it counted. "You should see the way that people look at you," she added. "I'd kill for your legs."

My head shot up as she placed her hand on my knee, never taking her eyes off the road. "Leah, you're strong. You're a hurt girl that's never been given a chance to heal. Not _even_ by yourself. That's why I don't know why the fuck you agreed to this bullshit."

I evaluated her words. Had I not given myself a chance to heal? I thought that was the whole purpose of me moving to Seattle.

As if she was reading my mind, she spoke up. "Running doesn't equal healing, Leah. Believe me, I know first hand," Bianca said clutching the steering wheel.

I looked at my friend in the driver's seat. I knew a good deal about her, but from the tone of her voice, I could tell there was a lot that I didn't know. I knew she was from Memphis, that she moved to Seattle when she turned 18, and that it was a rarity for her to talk to her family. I had the weird feeling that her reasoning was way deeper than she let on. I guess we all have secrets.

"Anyway," she cut into the silence. "As beautiful as you are, you can't see your ex and his fiancé aka _your cousin_ for the first time in a year looking like _that_."

I examined myself. I had on a black v-neck, black jeans, and black leather booties; nothing I didn't normally wear. Honestly, I thought it was pretty fashionable in comparison to the jean shorts and tank top everyone in La Push was accustomed to seeing me in. Since I wasn't phasing as much, I had let my hair grow out a little bit. It was now almost armpit length. I had even began wearing a little bit of makeup again. "What's wrong with what I have on?"

Bianca rolled her eyes. "Nothing is wrong with it, Lee. But you need to **_shit_** on Sam and Emily the first time you see them."

"Wow, so graphic," I teased. My mom was having a dinner party tonight for my arrival. It was supposed to be intimate, but knowing my brother's big mouth plus the pack, news that I was coming home would spread fast. Everyone would be there, not because they missed me and truly gave a shit about my well being, but rather because they wanted to see what had become of me. That, and the free food.

"We're about 30 minutes outside of Port Angeles," she said with a hint of hesitance in her voice as her heartbeat sped up.

I glared over at her with squinted eyes because I knew she was mentioning it for a reason. "What the fuck did you do?" Accusation dripping from my voice.

"Easy, Leah. Sheesh." It was silent for a few moments before she spoke up. "Ok, you know that wedding I shot a few weeks ago?" Bianca did some freelance photography from time to time, but how the hell was I supposed to remember her clients. I stayed silent.

"Ok, guess not," she said nervously. "Well, anyway, the bride has a spa slash beauty salon in Port Angeles, and I was thinking that-"

"NO!" I cut her off. I knew were she was going with this.

"Well, too bad, I set us up with an appointment already." My glare intensified because by "us" I knew she meant me. "I put down a nonrefundable deposit and everything," she quickly added.

"Oh well!" I shrugged.

"Come on, Lee! Please?! You never pamper yourself, and you deserve it. I mean, you're coming to your ex's wedding, and your being a good sport about it. Treat yo'self."

Reverse psychology my ass. Try again.

"No."

"Why not?! And don't say because you don't want to. I mean-"

"WHY THE FUCK DOES EVERYONE ALWAYS FEEL LIKE THEY NEED TO FIX ME!" I yelled scaring B, and even scaring myself a little.

I felt the car swerve a little as Bianca flinched. Where had that come from? I didn't mean to get that angry. I hadn't been that hostile in a long time, and that was a side of me that I knew my friend had never seen. Bianca opened her mouth to speak, but then thought better of it and remained quiet. A pang a guilt hit me in the stomach. I'm sure her intentions were pure, but whenever I felt threaten, my instinct was to lash out. I was a nasty bitch even when I wasn't trying to be.

After several minutes of silence, I let out a sigh. "I'm sorry…I just…" I started, not knowing what to say. "I…fine, I'll go to the salon, or whatever."

"You don't have to," she quickly retorted.

"No, I…it might be fun!" I lied.

She remained quiet keeping her eyes fixed on the road and I felt awful. I didn't want her to hate me, I had enough people on the Rez who filled those positions already. I leaned my head against the window.

Finally, B spoke again.

"I'm sorry, I honestly thought I was helping," she stated quietly.

"It's not your fault. I'm just on edge."

The more I thought about it, it might be good for me to go to a salon, if only to get my ends clipped. They were probably split to hell and back. I had always cut my hair myself or with the help of my mother, and we didn't use fancy hair shearers, we used regular ass utility scissors. And _maybe_ just maybe, it would also be fun to watch Sam's face redden when he sees me and to hear his heart race remembering the Leah that I used to be. Even if that moment would only last a millisecond because Emily would squeeze his hand and draw his attention back to her. And perhaps, I could find joy in knowing that Emily knew that no matter how bitchy, annoying, and evil everyone thought I was, I could still make her booboo's palms start sweating when he sees me. And maybe I could blame this revelation of vengeance on the alcohol, even though I knew in my heart of hearts I was just being spiteful. And perhaps I was okay with that.

"Let's do it, B," I piped up.

"Seriously?" She glanced at me with a smirk.

"Yeah, I mean, I have to get cute for the wedding anyway, right? I can try a hairstyle now, and if I like it, I can get it touched up for the ceremony."

"Riiiiight," she said with uncertainty.

" _And_ ," I added. "I can't have people thinking I just moved to Seattle and came back looking the same. I have to look like I've been improving my life."

"Mhmmm," she hummed with a tone that said she was looking for another reason than the ones I was listing.

" _Annnnd_ ," I rolled my eyes. "I want to **_shit_** on Sam and Emily."

"Yes! That's the one!" She cheered. All I could do was laugh. "That's what I like to hear. Boss bitch Leah taking control of her destiny!"

I watched as she got in the lane to exit for Port Angeles. Wanting to make my ex and his fiancé jealous was hardly taking control of my destiny. I sat quietly the rest of the drive as the familiar town came into view. When we reached the salon, just as I expected, the appointment was only for me. Bianca used the excuse that they didn't know what to do with her hair which may or may not have been valid, but I was still annoyed. Not only had she scheduled the appointment just for me, she had scheduled full service. Hair, nails, waxing, makeup — the whole shabang. If I didn't need her, I would have killed her. On top of everything, she left me alone in the shop while I was being tortured because she said she had to pick something up, and she was grabbing us food. I wouldn't argue with food.

I was on the hair section of this shit show now sitting under the dryer when I began eavesdropping on the gossiping stylists. In my defense, it's kind of hard not to with super wolf hearing, and I had no one to talk to. I pretended to read a magazine as I listened.

"Yeah, well I heard the back of her throat was pretty friendly throughout college," The first stylist, a tall, slim man dressed in the protocol all black, said opening his mouth and moving his hand back and forth to imitate a blow job.

My stylist, a short woman with hot pink pixie cut, laughed. "Oh, I bet. She was a grade A slut, and still she gets to marry a one percenter, I mean, what the fuck is _that_."

The first stylist rolled his eyes. "Please. My friend saw her fiancé on a gay dating website, I kid you not. He's totally using her as a cover up. Not that I think she cares, she's probably blown all his friends, uncles, and cousins by now anyway."

I accidentally scoffed. " _And I thought my life was a soap opera,_ " I sarcastically thought to myself

My stylist laughed before getting serious. "Even though she's a total slore, it is really sad what happened to her sisters."

"What happened to her sisters?"

"Geez, Jason, don't you watch the news?" My stylist complained as he shook his head in response. "Well, apparently, they were driving out east on a country road when it started storming really bad, and her youngest sister hydroplaned and lost control of the car. The car spins off of the road and slides down a hill. If that wasn't enough to kill them, they end up next to a lake and because of all the rain and high water levels, the current gets a hold of the car and drags it out."

"Oh my gawd!" I hear the stylist whose name I'm guessing was Jason exclaimed.

"I know, but that's not even the worst part. When they found the car, the windows were busted out, and it was empty. So now they don't even know where their bodies are. Truly a tragedy."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Something seemed weird about her story.

"So, what do you think happened to them?" Jason asked.

"The police chief is saying that it's believed that the water pressure may have busted the windows, and their bodies floated out. Or, they got out using a crow bar and swam to shore. But I'm not buying either of those explanations." After all the things I've seen, I wasn't buying that explanation either, this didn't seem normal. "I mean, seatbelts? And even if they weren't wearing them, they swam to shore after all that? And even if they did, you haven't heard from them, and no one spotted them or their bodies in the surrounding forrest. Doesn't add up."

"Hmm, I guess not."

"I think," my stylist paused. "I think, it has something to do with those disappearances in Seattle a few years ago." I physically perked up at this point.

Jason rolled his eyes. "Not another conspiracy theory, Mel. Those people are dead, girl."

"Hear me out! I went to high school with that Riley kid that went missing way back when." I'm sure at this point I was full on staring at them, but I didn't care. "We weren't friends or anything, but I remember when it happened. His parents were freaking out. Like, last my mom told me, his mom has gone completely batshit at this point. But anyway, his disappearance was super weird. They never found his body, or any remnants or anything. He just essentially fell off the earth. Then on top of that, there were a bunch of other disappearances with the same circumstances. It was like they just vanished. That doesn't happen by chance."

"And what are you suggesting exactly?"

Her face became completely serious before she spoke. "Aliens."

I let out a exasperated sigh of both relief and annoyance. Jason scoffed. "Oh give me a break, Mel."

I quickly sat back as she started walking towards me. "I'm serious, Jason, what else could explain it?" She lifted the dryer and lead me to her chair.

"I don't know, maybe a serial killer. And the girls, I'm thinking drowning if they weren't already dead."

"You all think I'm crazy, but one day you'll see that I'm not." She began taking the over-sized rollers out of my hair.

I sat quietly as I assessed the conversation I had just listened to. My stylist had brought up a point I never would have thought of. Were the disappearances related to vampires? I had to admit vampires had been the last thing on my mind lately. I didn't watch the news, and I stayed out of pack business as best I could, but I'd have to talk to Jacob about this later. I rolled my eyes, the last thing I needed was another newborn war. I thought vampires ruining my life had ended with the whole Nessie situation. Hopefully, it was nothing.

Bianca came through the door with food in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. "Whew hot stuff! Looking good."

I glared at her. "I can't believe I let you do this to me."

She passed me a burger and fries that I gratefully snatched. "Please. You're gonna be so fine! No man will be able to resist you."

I highly doubted that seeing that most of the men on the Rez either hated me, thought I was a slut, or felt a combination of pity, confusion, and anger towards me…aka Sam Uley. I groaned internally, how do all roads always lead back to him and how the fuck he felt about me. My GAWD.

I sat impatiently as my stylist finished my hair and makeup. I was more than ready to get out of here at this point. The more I sat, the more time I had for anxiety to kick in. All thoughts of what could happen when I go back to La Push. Would everything I was working so hard for be destroyed when I looked at _him_? Or better yet him and her… _together_? Could I even go through with this Maid of Honor ordeal? What would the rest of the pack have to say to me or _about_ me? Why had I even decided to come back? Fuck, I was so stupid.

"Alright," my stylist beamed before spinning my chair towards the mirror. "All. done."

At first I didn't recognize myself. My hair had been cut into a long, asymmetrical bob. One side reached my shoulder while the other side was just below my chin. My black hair looked particularly shiny and silky. It was bouncy and light. I loved it. It was definitely not a hairstyle I would have picked for myself, and I didn't know how well I could keep it up. Yet, for the first time since I had been forced to cut my hair, I felt just as pretty with short hair as I did with hair that fell down to my waist. My makeup was way more than I would normally wear, but it was still a seemingly natural look by my request. Even the lash extensions Bianca insisted that I have looked natural. My skin was glowing. I felt…pretty? I hadn't felt that in a long time.

"You look AH-MAZING like I knew you would," Bianca began clapping her hands together.

"You do look fabulous, sweetie!" Jason smiled at me from where he stood working on another woman's hair.

"Thanks, everyone, I love it!" I said looking at myself in the mirror once again.

"And your look will be complete with this," Bianca pulled out a long-sleeved, red jumpsuit. It looked skin tight except for at the top where the fabric was draped off the shoulders. It was right up Bianca's alley, but I was definitely not wearing that. Before I got a chance to say no, she looked me dead in my eyes. " **Shit. On. Them.** "

"What in the kink?" Jason mumbled under his breath.

I sighed and took the jumpsuit from her moving to go change. "Wait," Bianca caught me grabbing my arm. "Pair it with these." She pulled out a pair of strappy heels.

"Ok, hell no. You're taking this too far."

"Please do, you'll serve Pretty Woman tease with those legs," Jason piped up, and my stylist, Mel, nodded in agreement. Wow, they were encouraging me to look like a hooker.

I groaned and went to change. This may have been the sexiest outfit I've worn in…well…ever. No way my dad was ever letting me walk out of the house in anything remotely close, and after that I started phasing which left no room for being a sex kitten. I looked at myself in the mirror and shook my head. There was no way I was the same person that had been a drunken mess this morning. Maybe Mel was right about aliens, and they had definitely abducted me and replaced me with whoever was looking back at me in the mirror. I felt not only pretty, but sexy? Beautiful?

I strutted out to show off my new look and everyone's mouth dropped. I felt a little self conscious.

"If I were straight," Jason licked his lips. "I would fuck you."

"I'll take that as a compliment," I laughed.

"Let's get out of here before it gets too late to make Sam eat his motherfuckin' heart out," Bianca laced her arm through mine before whispering. "And make everyone else wish they could just eat _you_ out."

"So vulgar," I jokingly rolled my eyes.

As we drove to La Push, I felt a flurry of emotions. Nervousness, fear, regret, but more importantly, hope. Hope that this trip was going to be worthwhile.

I directed Bianca to my house, and gasped as we pulled up in front. There were a bunch of cars outside, including the blue truck I remembered.

 _Sam's_.

I took a deep breath, before getting out of the car. Bianca gave me a reassuring smile. It was now or never because this was me, taking control of my destiny.

I think.


	3. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk

_**A/N: Thanks for all the PMs, reviews, favorites, and traffic this story has been getting. I know exactly where I want to go with this story so sometimes I get over zealous while writing new chapters. Each chapter gets longer and longer. This one got way too long so I had to split it. So this part is sort of an essential filler, at least to me. Keep reviewing and letting me know what you think. It's great to know so many people love Leah as much as I do.**_

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, I just want to let one of my favorite characters finally heal.**

* * *

I walked up to the door of my childhood home and listened closely. I heard a couple of muffled voices inside, but most of the voices were distant. They must have been in the backyard. I took a few deep breaths as Bianca came to stand next to me waiting for me to knock. My hands were shaking, and my heart was beating out of my chest. I closed my eyes and knocked.

"Oh, someone's at the door." I heard my mom say. "Will you go grab that, please, my hands are dirty." I shifted uneasily as I heard footsteps coming towards us, it was too late to turn around.

Finally the door was opened as the light from inside the house shone on the porch.

"Charlie?"

"Leah?" He looked at me in shock for a few seconds making me uncomfortable. When he was finally over his initial shock, a signature Charlie Swan smirk spread across his face.

"Leah!" He ushered me in giving me an awkward hug. My mom came around the corner, dropping whatever was in her hands. She eagerly wiped her hands on her apron before coming over and wrapping me up in a hug.

"Oh, Lee! I missed you so much. I'm so glad you're here!" Tears began to fall as she took a step back, never letting me go. "How are you? Was the drive easy? How has Seattle been? Have people been being nice to you? Did you eat? Where are your bags?" I had never seen my mom like this, her usually nonchalant demeanor was now anxious and she was spewing questions a mile a minute.

"Mom, you act like we don't talk every single day," I laughed.

"I know, Sweetie, but I miss you! It's good to have you back home, in the flesh. Everyone is going to be so happy to see you!" I doubted that, but I gave her a reassuring nod.

I looked at Bianca who was standing timidly behind me. I had never seen her look nervous or being remotely shy, but she was quietly and intently watching the interaction between my mom and I.

"Mom," I said, finally breaking away from her and pulling Bianca up next to me. "This is my roommate Bianca. The one I was telling you about." Bianca smiled before waving her hand. "B, this is my mom, and um," I looked over at Charlie standing closely behind my mom. How should I introduce him, as her boyfriend? My mom did me the favor of not talking about her relationship with him, but I knew something deeper had been going on for awhile now. If it weren't, he would be outside with Billy instead of sitting in the house with a beer, watching my mother make whatever it is she was cooking. "This is Charlie." I said simply.

Charlie politely shook her hand while my mother went in for the bear hug. "Oh, sweetie, it's so nice to meet you! Thank you for taking care of my baby girl up there in the big city. She's lucky to have you. Call me Sue." My mom was being so sappy, and it was weirding me out.

As she broke away from Bianca, she walked back to the kitchen taking her place at the counter. "Look, Lee, look what I'm making. Apple pie bread pudding! Seth said it was your favorite!" That was definitely Seth's favorite, not mine. What a little shit. My mom looked so excited that I simply smiled for her sake.

"Thanks mom, it smells great."

As my mom's excitement began to wear off, she had the chance to look at me, and really see me. Examine me. Examine what the hell I have on. I saw her eyes widen and her mouth opened to say something. "Leah," was all that came out. "Leah, I….you look," she struggled to find the words.

"You look like walking sex!" I saw Rachel Black walk in through the back door with a cup in her hand. She had obviously been drinking. If she didn't have a degree in computer engineering to showcase her brilliance, you would have thought she majored in binge drinking while she was away at school. At that moment, Charlie uncomfortably took the chance to excuse himself to the backyard.

"It's good to see you, Leah. You look fucking good." She took another swig of what smelt like Jack and Coke. My stomach turned at the reminder of my drinking earlier.

"I told her!" Bianca piped up giving Rachel a high five.

"Rachel, language," my mother reprimanded with a frown. "You do look… _hot_ ," she struggled over the word as it clearly made her uncomfortable to reference me as such. "You look healthy and happy, which is all I want for you."

Rachel rolled her eyes before directing her attention to me. "How have you been, Leah? My brother will be happy to see you. He talks about you all the time. You know, gives us updates," She wiggled her eyebrows. "Everyone will be, except for probably Emily, but who cares. Little Miss Wholesome could never wear something like that." She pointed to my outfit. It was no secret that Rachel and Emily didn't really get along outside of the fact that the were both imprints. Rachel was loud, aggressive, and independent while Emily was timid, passive, and sweet. Rachel had been my friend before Sam and college, so a part of me was always happy that Emily didn't take the little bit of friendship I had left with Rachel from me too.

"Is he here?" I asked Rachel and was returned with a puzzled look. "Jacob, I mean."

"Oh! No not yet," she sighed. "He was at the Cullen's," her face scrunched as she said their name. "But he'll be here, don't worry," she winked and an unintentional blush creeped up my cheeks.

Rachel walked to the freezer and pulled out a bottle of Jack. "I really came in here for this," an evil grin spread across her face as she held the bottle up. "You guys want some?" I shook my head, but Bianca eagerly accepted. "I like her," Rachel beamed grabbing her a cup.

"My goodness Rachel, can the girls get settled before you go getting everyone drunk. We haven't even had dinner," My mom complained as she moved around the kitchen.

Rachel just laughed as she and Bianca sipped their drinks.

"Well, the food on the grill is almost ready, so if you all want a plate before the food gets scarfed down I suggest you come outside," Rachel advised.

"Well, here!" My mom handed the three of us containers of food. "Make yourself useful on the way out. I'll be out in a little while."

Ugh, the part I've been dreading. I was starting to get nervous again. Couldn't I just stay inside with my mom? My hands started to sweat again and I almost dropped the bowl that I was carrying. I regretted not taking Rachel up on the drink. Bianca nudged me to go on before mouthing "You're in control." I followed Rachel out the back door, almost tripping down the back steps. Blood rushed to my cheeks as I walked to the table where the food was being placed. When I realized that it had gone completely quiet, the crimson in my cheeks darkened. I could feel their gazes burning into me. I wanted to run and hide, but Bianca gave me a reassuring nod even though I could tell she was nervous for me too at this point.

I stood up straight lifting my head in faux confidence before scanning the scene. I saw Jared and Kim sitting next to Paul on the old picnic table. Quil stood leant against the shed next to his grandfather where Billy and Charlie were in close proximity. Collin, Brady, and a few younger wolves I barely knew stood on the other side of the yard. Those kids, I knew, were just here to be nosey. I had barely talked to them before and I didn't even know their names. In the corner, on the swinging bench my dad had built for my mom so many years ago, a swing _we_ used to sit on and talk for hours, I could see _them_ sitting. I didn't make eye contact with them, I simply saw them out the corner of my eye. I couldn't look at them, and definitely not _shit_ on them quite yet. As suspected everyone was looking at me, studying me, waiting for me to speak, or to snap — anything. I remained silent. I didn't owe them anything. I was distracted from my resolve when I felt an arm go around my shoulders.

"Hey sis." I looked up to see Seth smiling down at me and my body relaxed. He was taller than me now even with my heels on. He looked older, his face was less round. He still held his baby face cuteness, but his features were more defined. His hair was buzzed. He was shirtless, only wearing jean cutoffs and Nike slide sandals. " _At least he has on shoes,_ " I thought to myself. I smiled, a genuine smile, as I wrapped my arms around him.

"Seth, oh my, I'm so happy to see you. You have no idea!"

He laughed, hugging me tighter, and slowly I heard people get back to their conversations. Their focus no longer solely on me.

"You told mom that all your favorite foods were my favorite foods?" I playfully punched him in the arm. He laughed, grabbing his arm in mock pain.

"Hey, you weren't here to stop me," he shrugged.

"What's up with mom, by the way? She's like super giddy, and emotional kind of emotional."

He shifted uneasily and scratched the back of his neck. "I dunno, Lee. She's just been happy I guess." He was hiding something, but before I could press the issue, he grabbed my shoulders shaking me a little. "It's good to see you. I'm digging the haircut."

"Yeah? It was Bianca's idea." I looked behind me where B stood staring at my brother with a gleam in her eye. Was she checking him out? Ew. I shook my head and pulled her forward once again so that we were standing side by side. "This is Bianca, my roommate."

He looked down at her and his lip curled into a smirk. "Nice to meet you, B, I've heard a lot about you," he winked at her, and if it weren't for my supernatural vision, I may have missed the faint blush that crept up her dark skin.

"Wow, Leah, this is your _little_ brother?" She asked me the question, but never took her eyes off of Seth.

"I'm her little brother in age, but her _big_ brother in everything else," he said, his voice becoming velvety. Gross. I smacked him upside the head causing him to flinch as I heard snickers from around the yard.

"Yeah, he's my little brother, and he can _still_ get his little ass beat," I glared at him.

"Woah, Clearwater, still as feisty as ever," Paul came walking toward us standing by Rachel who was still sipping her drink on the other side of Bianca.

"Nice to see you too," I said sarcastically.

"Babe, doesn't Leah look like sex personified?" Rachel piped up, placing a hand on his bare chest.

Paul licked his lips "She sure does, babe." I scrunched my face, Paul and Rachel had to have the most crazy sexual relationship I had come across.

"Thanks, I think."

I was slowly letting my guard down, and I guess people could tell. Soon Quil walked over to greet me, still as goofy as ever. He was followed by Jared and Kim. Billy rolled his way over, and Old Quil gave me a smile from a distance. Even some of the younger wolves I didn't know came over to hug and greet me, more for their enjoyment than reconciliation. I spoke to everyone, answering their small talk questions and introducing them to Bianca.

"Do the men of your Tribe, like, not wear shirts?" Bianca whispered to me when everyone had walked away. "Not that I'm complaining, but it is uncanny. Like, y'all's genetic makeup is unnatural. All of y'all are fine as shit!" Even though she was whispering, I knew all the wolves could hear her. I saw Brady puff his chest in the background.

"No, I think they were just at the beach today, and probably came here right after. Next time, they come around you, they'll be wearing shirts," I said, more so speaking to them than to her. Paul peered around Rachel and shook his head at me. I slyly slipped him the finger.

When the food was ready, I eagerly grabbed a plate and went to take a seat at the picnic table, Bianca sat on the other side of me, and Seth eagerly sat on the other side of her. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the plate in front of me.

Bianca leant over and whispered to me "Is that?" she directed me with her eyes. I followed her gaze and saw him staring at me from across the yard. Sam. He quickly diverted his eyes when our gaze connected. "He's been staring," she added. Emily stood on the side of him and he pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. Bianca raised an eyebrow at me. "Have they spoken to you?"

I sat the fork in my hand down and silently shook my head. It was quiet again, I knew people could hear our conversation, and all I wanted to do was fucking scream.

"So," Seth started, grabbing her attention and attempting to change the subject. "What do you guys have planned tomorrow?"

"Oh, I don't know. I'm just along for the ride, whatever Leah wants to do," Bianca shrugged.

"I'm sure, LeeLee has maid of honor duties," Paul said coming to sit across the table from me. Rachel slapped the back of his head. He flinched even though we both knew it didn't hurt. I rammed my heel into his foot for good measure.

"Don't fucking call me that," I said through gritted teeth.

"Ow, fuck, Leah. Shit," he groaned.

"Wow, so eloquent, glad you finally learned how to express yourself," I bit back. Bianca snickered next to me. "You're in the wedding too, right?" I directed my question to Rachel.

"Un-fucking-fortunately!" Rachel whisper yelled taking a stab at the potato salad on her plate. "Initially, I wasn't asked. Not that I give a shit. Because Susie homemaker over there," she pointed to Emily. "told Kim that I'm a, what's the word she used? Oh yeah, a _liability_." She chugged the rest of what was in her cup. "Me! A fucking liability. Can you believe that?" She raised her arms in disbelief.

Everyone looked down at their plate and continued to eat without saying anything. The way Rach drank, we could definitely believe she would be a liability, but I can't believe Emily had actually said that about her out loud.

"I thought there was only room for one liability at the Uley wedding," I jokingly pointed to myself.

Rachel laughed. "Yeah, well she only asked me to be a bridesmaid for numbers sake. Her sister-in-law Jill, you know, Claire's mom," she stopped and slapped herself on the forehead. "Of course you know Jill, she's your cousin-in-law too. I forgot. Anyway, she's pregnant again, and she says that Jill had too much stress from the pregnancy to be a bridesmaid, but I know she totally kicked her out. She wants everyone to look uniform aka not fat." I wasn't sure that pregnancy should be categorized as fat, but I didn't say anything. I wasn't surprised if she did kick her out, I knew how high maintenance and sometimes shallow Emily truly could be even if everyone else was blinded by her humble lifestyle now that she was with Sam.

"Seriously," Rachel continued. "You'll see. She's fucking bridezilla. Not to mention she thinks she's fucking royalty that needs to be waited on hand and foot. All because she's the first imprint and the first to get married. Okay, woohoo," she melodramatically waved her hands around before pointing at herself. "I am a Black. The daughter of the Chief. _I AM_ fucking Royalty…if we're being technical. Not that it fucking matters cause we're all still stuck on the shit Rez. At least for now. Because I can leave, I _have_ a degree, I've been somewhere before Little Miss Muffet." Rachel was definitely drunk ranting, and I was guessing Emily's original exclusion of her in her wedding party had hurt her feelings more than she wanted to admit.

"Ok, no more Jack Daniels for you, babe," Paul said rubbing her back.

"Hey," Bianca leaned over to me. "What's an imprint?"

Everyone physically tensed including myself. "What?" I pretended to be clueless.

"What's an imprint? Rachel said Emily was "the first imprint.' What's that?" She looked at me with curious eyes. I snuck a glare at Rachel who sunk into Paul's side realizing her drunken mistake.

"Um, it's just a Quileute thing," I desperately tried to come up with a quick lie. "It just means fiancé, more or less. The Quileute word for fiancé translates into English as imprint."

"Oh," Bianca raised her eyebrows. "That's interesting."

Seth quickly began speaking to her again, grabbing her attention once more. He was getting way too good at deflecting the conversation. As they talked, I decided to take the chance to escape inside for a few seconds. However, as I was walking towards the door, a large hand grabbed my forearm. I looked up to see Sam looking at me. I glanced between his eyes and my arm, and he got the memo to let me go.

"Um, hey," he said, his voice lacking any readable emotion. I knew him well enough to know that that meant he was nervous, or unsure.

I fixed my posture, standing up straight and turning on my faux confidence. I really wanted to scream and run away. Maybe even apologize to him for coming back; for even agreeing to be in his wedding. I knew this was Emily's doing and he wanted nothing to do with me. But this was my home too, and I had every tight to be here.

"Hello." I said curtly.

His nostrils flared a bit. Was it that irritating for him to speak to me? "How are you?" He said shortly.

"I'm great," I lied.

It was silent again, people were watching us.

"That's great. Thanks for coming. I-," he clenched his teeth. " _We're_ , glad you're back."

I looked him in his face, and I saw nothing. No spark, no emotion, no light in his eyes. He wasn't the Sammy I once knew, he wasn't mine at all. It was difficult for him to talk to me. He was like a robot. This was rehearsed. He didn't want me here. I swallowed the breath that was threatening to get caught in my throat, and took a deeper one.

"Thanks, I can really tell." It was sarcastic. I didn't mean to be, it just came out. Fuck, why was he having this affect on me, the need to get a reaction out of him just came naturally. I had barely talked to Sam in the year before I left. This was why. I tried to be quiet, but the word vomit always spilled."Ready to catch up with little ole _me_?" My snarky words were low; only the wolves would be able to hear me.

He scoffed. An argument was coming on. I braced myself.

"New look, same attitude, huh?" He said with an incredulous smirk. I wanted to slap that smirk right off his face.

"You should know me better than anyone, _Sammy_. I was born Leah Clearwater, and I'll die Leah Clearwater." My eyes dug into his, giving a sarcastic smile. "I stay true. Unlike some people."

A growl escaped his lips, coming from his chest. He whispered so low that only I could hear it. "Ugh, why are you here," He shook his head.

A pang hit me in my heart causing me to grab my chest. Why was I here? The hurt that I felt at his words soon translated to anger. I wanted him to feel the pain he continued to bestow upon me. Just as I balled up my fist, Emily came over to us, quickly lacing her fingers through his. He physically relaxed and smiled down at her. His angry demeanor instantly softening as if the argument we were just starting had never happened.

Her notion had the opposite effect on me. I was seething. I had been stupid to think I could have any effect on him besides anger. She had all the power. She could make him relaxed or excited. Make his heart beat overtime. No matter how much makeup, or how many new clothes, or what hairstyle I wore, it was her. I could never shit on them the way that they as a unit continued to shit on me.

"Good to see you, Leah," she let go of his hand and was leaning in to hug me. I froze. Her arms reached mine, and I panicked. My arms were still at my side, I didn't want to hug her back. For a few moments, I stood there like that. Awkward and stiff, refusing to reciprocate her touch. Finally, I gave her a pathetic, forced pat on the back in return as she took a step back. "We missed you," she gave me a fearful smile. _We_? Liar. That was it, I wanted to phase right there and rip both of their heads off. I knew the anger was beginning to roll off of me. At the same time I wanted to burst into tears, tucking my tail in between my legs and run inside. My mind was all over the place.

I forced a smile that I'm sure looked more like a grimace. "Right, same," I replied quickly. I was going to explode. "Hey, it was good to see you, let's chat later, ok?" I asked rhetorically turning and practically running inside the house.

"That went well," I heard Paul laugh. He was such a messy bitch.

"Should I follow her?" I faintly heard Bianca ask in the distance. I hoped she thought better of it.

I ran into the empty kitchen placing both hands on the edge of the sink letting out the breath it felt like I'd been holding forever. I was panting. My god, how was I going to go through with this. I kicked off the strappy heels on my feet, shrinking a few inches. I opened the cupboard and pulled out a glass before walking to the freezer and pulling out the Jack Daniels Rachel had offered me earlier. I was definitely taking her up on that offer now. I poured a couple shots and drank them straight in one gulp. Slamming the glass on the counter, I gripped the sink again.

"Taking it to the head?" a deep, smooth voice spoke. I didn't have to look up to know who it was; I'd spent enough time with him and we spoke enough on the phone for me to recognize his voice. At that moment, I broke. I turned to look at him as tears began welling up in my eyes. He looked at me with confusion before I ran to him, leaping into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and slowly he placed his arms around my waist. I nuzzled my face into his neck. It wasn't meant to be a romantic notion; I needed to be held before I fell apart.

He laid his head on top of my hair. "Woah, Beta girl, you ok?" he asked, hugging me close to him.

I didn't speak, simply shook my head into his neck.

"Come on, sit down. Let's talk." He lead me to the living room and sat me down on the couch before taking a seat next to me. "Lee, what's wrong?" His voice dripping with concern.

"I blew it, Jake. I can't do this." Tears rolled down my cheeks. "Fuck, I'm going to mess up my makeup."

"So, is that what you're upset about? Your makeup?" He let out a chuckle. I wanted to laugh, but I couldn't.

"Seriously, Jake," I groaned.

"What happened?" He grabbed my hand, his eyes searching my face.

"I saw Sam," I shrugged. "And I didn't know that he still had such an effect on me."

"What do you mean?" Jake looked puzzled. "I thought you said you were over him."

I sighed. "I am. At least, I think I am. It's not like I want to be with him. That's not it. It's like, every time I'm around him…around them, something inside of me wakes up. I feel a large mix of emotions in such a short amount of time. Anger, regret, fear, resentment. I get mad at myself. I get mad at him." I squeezed Jacob's hand. "I just don't want him to have this much power over me. It's been almost three years."

He looked at me with empathy. I knew if anyone sh _ould have_ understood, it was him. We used to understand each other better than anyone until he up and imprinted. Now, I feel like the world has moved on, and it's imperative that I do too. Not only for myself, but for the convenience of everyone.

"Leah, everyone is glad you're here. This is your home. People don't hate you as much as you think they do." By people, I knew he meant Sam. And he was wrong, Sam had just asked me why I was here.

"As much? So they _do_ hate me?" I tried to sound sarcastic and cool, but it sounded more unfortunate than anything.

"Leah, no. You know what I meant. Look, no one's mad at you because this is hard for you. You know how hard it was for me to be around Edward and Bella. Remember my episode at their wedding?"

I let out a chuckle so low it was barely audible. "Yeah, Jake, but that's different. This whole situation is different."

"Did you punch him in the face?"

I shook my head. "I wanted to."

"But you didn't! And that's progress. I bet you didn't even make any smart ass remarks."

"Please," I scoffed. "That'll never change."

He pulled me closer to him, and I leant my head on his shoulder. "See, Leah, I'm proud of you. Getting over something is one thing, healing is another. Don't put a time limit on it."

It wasn't the first time I'd heard that, and I reckoned that maybe he was right. "You know," I started, fiddling my thumbs. "Bianca said the same thing."

"Bianca your roommate?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she's here. She's out back, I kind've left her when I stormed in here." His head perked up and he looked at me with concerned eyes.

"You aren't worried about her being in a backyard full of giant shape shifting wolves?"

As long as no one slipped up and said something else in front of her, I wasn't worried about her. She was probably in heaven right now. "No, she's with Seth. She'll be ok."

We sat there next to each other with his arms around me and my head on his shoulder for a little while. Neither of us said a word, but it was comforting. Finally, he turned towards me, lifting my chin with his hand.

"You can do this, Lee. Stop doubting yourself." He let my chin go and placed a peck on my forehead before getting up, my heart fluttered. "Hey, look. I gotta go say hi to my dad and everyone," he gestured towards the backyard with his thumb. "But I'll be back."

I nodded, not getting up from my place on the couch. I sat, watching him walk away. Before he went outside, he turned to me with a soft smile. "You look really good, by the way." Then he was gone and a goofy grin spread across my face.

" **Tsk, tsk, tsk**."

My head snapped to the direction from which the sound came. Looking towards the front door, I saw a figure leaning against the frame. I hadn't heard him walk in as I was wrapped up in the after thoughts of my conversation with Jacob. I barely recognized him at first. He was taller, his build was wider…stronger. His face was chiseled, his jaw tight, his cheekbones defined. The boyish charm it once held was gone. In its place was the allure of a man. His cropped black hair fell in his eyes, he shook it out of his face so that I could see his stare was intently on me. The way the light hit his hazel eyes, specks of greens sparkled even though his eyes were hard. Unlike Sam's, there was emotion in them, but it was masked with angry humor. His wide arms were crossed over his chest.

"I thought if anyone had learned their lesson about pining over imprinted wolves, it would be _you_ , Leah."


	4. Nothing Was The Same

At the first sight of him, my mouth involuntarily blubbered in confusion. My initial reaction would usually be to bite his head off, but I was stuck. I didn't know whether to go on an angry rant about him waltzing into my house unannounced, or about the fact that he had just indirectly accused me of pining over Jacob. The other part of me was unsure if my eyes were playing tricks on me. There was no way this was the same person who used to be a lanky, shy kid with legs and arms too long for his body. I sat on the couch, trying my absolute best to look hard and unbothered, but on the inside I was a bit shook. It was taking a minute for the words in my head to come together, let alone come out of my mouth. Embry continued to give me a smug grin as he stared at me. Anger and curiosity swirled inside of me. I was angry for obvious reasons, but the curiosity came from the utter realization that Embry was very different from how I had last seen him.

I finally tightened my resolve, sitting a little straighter and turning my body to face him. "Well, hello, Embry, how are you today?" I said in cheery sarcasm. "Great to see you too. Yes, I've been doing great, thanks for fucking asking!"

He let out a deep breath and rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Leah?"

"That's a little role play example for you on how to greet someone the next time you decide to barge into their house without so much as a damn knock on the door!" I added with a glare.

"Actually, Leah, I did knock," he shrugged. "Waited for an answer too."

I avoided his gaze as I tried to recall hearing a knock at the door. I honestly hadn't. Well, of course I hadn't, I was having a moment with Jacob. One that I thoroughly appreciated until Embry came in here, making me feel like an asshole about it.

"Well, I didn't hear it, nor did I answer it, huh?" I spat.

"Sooo, the door was unlocked. I know you've probably forgotten that we all have a pretty open door policy around here in the pack, but try not to get your panties in too much of a bunch." He gave me a fake smile.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, unsure of what to say next. This was hardly the quiet and reserved packmate that I remembered.

"Besides," he continued. "I'm sure that you didn't hear me. You seemed a little preoccupied." He glanced at the back door that Jacob had just walked out of.

I growled, not sure why he was suggesting that I was being inappropriate with Jake, or that I was pining over him, or whatever the fuck. Either way, I didn't even think that was true, and it certainly wasn't any of his business.

"I really hope you're not insinuating what I think you're insinuating," I warned.

"What? That you have a thing for Jacob?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"See, that was an opportunity for you to fix what you were going to say before you said it," I said angrily. "And still, you, said it anyway."

"It's the truth."

"It is _not_ the truth." I glared at him.

"You're so sure it isn't?" He challenged with a cocked eyebrow.

"I didn't know it was a crime to be comforted by your pack brother."

Embry let out a dry chuckle. "Is that what we're calling it these days?"

I rolled my eyes. He was being way more difficult than I had time for right now. "You don't know shit."

"I don't know shit?" He said leaning back in mock surprise. "Eh, I know a few things."

I lazily raised my eyebrows at him willing him to continue.

"Let's see," He started, taking a step towards me. "First, I know what I just saw. You know, you and Jacob all over each other."

I glared at him, fixing my mouth to protest, but he spoke again before I could get any words out.

"Second, I know there were five people in our pack, four other people _besides_ yourself. Yet now, you only talk to two of those people. One of which is your brother. Guess who the other person is." He sarcastically put his index finger on his chin and pretended to think about it. "Third, I know Jacob about as well as he knows himself."

He took another few steps towards me. I was looking up at him now as he towered over me. A gleam of uninterpreted emotion shone in his eyes. I shrunk into the back of the couch a bit.

"Lastly," he tilted his head at me. "I know you better than you think I do."

I absorbed his words, trying my best to keep an unreadable expression on my face as I looked up at the man in front of me. Embry had always been apart of my life, shit, the whole pack had in some way. However, me and Embry had never been close. He wasn't on the inner circle. He didn't have a father who sat on the council...even though the jury was still out on that one. His mom wasn't throwing dinner parties for everyone to come to. The only reason I had ever even paid him any attention at all before we phased was because of Quil and Jacob. All three of them had been pains in the right side of my ass growing up. Or maybe I was just dramatic the way that pre-adolescent girls can sometimes be. Either way, this had never been the Embry of my memories. He was never confrontational, and he usually said as little to me as possible.

Yet, now, here he was standing over me with his arms crossed and his face hard. I couldn't help but wonder when I had missed this transformation. This obviously hadn't happened over night. Had I really been that wrapped up in Sam and my constant need to get the fuck over him, that I hadn't noticed what the kid in front of me had become? He was taller and stronger. He was definitely fiercer. And he even seemed angry, a word that wasn't often used to describe him. I didn't know whether to be ashamed or flattered that I could piss off even the most docile of spirits.

I stood up from the couch causing Embry to take a few steps backwards. We were still fairly close to each other. I sighed, breaking the silence of our standoff.

"I'm not sure _why_ you care, but it's nothing like what you think. Jacob was being a friend to me. Nothing more, nothing less," I reasoned.

"I care because he's my friend," Embry retorted.

"Great!" I said with fake enthusiasm. "We've got something in common, he's a friend to both of us. Now that that's cleared up, can you stop minding my business? I have a party I should really get back to." I moved to take a step around Embry, but he was quicker, and he matched my movements using his body as a blockade.

"Are you really this childish?!" I yelled crossing my arms over my chest. "Fucking move!"

"I know you're in no rush to get back to that party, Leah. We aren't done talking," Embry tilted his head as he smirked down at me.

I wasn't sure what to make of the smug son of a bitch that was standing in front of me, and I wasn't sure what to make of the fact that instead of pissed off, I was intrigued.

"What more is there to talk about?" I frowned.

He took a step back from me, and his face softened a bit although it still wasn't the kind face I was used to.

"I dunno, Leah, I just…" he trailed off, running his hand through his hair. "I came here for the same reason everyone else did."

I scoffed. "What, for the free food?"

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Free food? What, no," he shook his head.

I sighed. "Then what, Embry? To yell at me about your dear friend Jacob?"

"No." His face softened completely. "For you."

I dropped my hands to my side, and relaxed a little, though not completely. His softening caused me to do the same, but I was still annoyed.

"The yelling was a natural reaction," he said lightly.

"For me?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

He simply nodded in response.

"Bullshit," I spat, although my tone wasn't nasty.

"I am here for you. Thought it would be good to see you after not speaking to you in a year." He paused. "I'm glad you're back."

"Temporarily," I added quickly.

"Yeah," he frowned. "Right."

I was quiet as I searched his face. I didn't know what I was looking for. Maybe a hint of something. Sarcasm, anger, spite...anything. Yet, it held none of those. The only readable emotion was sincerity.

"Well, thank you," I said softly. "I, um. I appreciate that."

He nodded without saying anything else.

It was quiet again due to the fact that I wasn't sure what to say. Part of me, the better part of me, wanted to just walk out of the house and avoid him along with the majority of the people on this reservation until after the wedding. I mean come on, he had just accused me of lusting after our alpha. He had become some snarky little asshole since I'd left, and I wanted nothing more than to be angry at him. Anger, after all, was my specialty. But I couldn't find it. I couldn't muster up the same irritability I had for everyone else. He'd never really done anything to deserve it, and it would take too much energy to dig deep enough to find it now.

I sighed deeply causing Embry to perk up on guard at the potential of me going off on him. I laughed bitterly to myself. Somethings never change.

"Yanno," Embry started, breaking the silence. "I got excited when I heard you were still gonna be the maid of honor."

I scrunched my face in confusion. "Why?"

"Well, I'm a part of the wedding party too."

My eyebrow shot up. "You?!" My voice dripped in utter shock.

He chuckled. "Don't act so surprised, Leah."

"No, no, no," I quickly cleaned up my reaction. "I just, I wouldn't expect anyone from Jacob's pack to be in the wedding."

"You're in the wedding," he countered.

"Yeah, but my circumstances are a little different, don't you think?" I let out a non humorous chuckle. "Besides, I'm more of a lone wolf at this point anyway."

My words were meant to be taken lightly, but anger glazed over Embry's eyes. "You're still pack to me," he said tightly.

I involuntarily cowered at his anger. When had he become so ferocious? He relaxed again and sighed.

"Jacob still calls you his beta, you know," Embry gave me a half smile.

"Yeah? And don't you forget it!" I said playfully in an attempt to lighten the air. His anger had a weird effect on me. I didn't like seeing him angry, I was so used to his calmness.

He chuckled in response.

"You can have the second in command spot if you want," I assured him. "I don't really want to phase for much longer. If I could stop today, I would."

"Nah, Leah. You earned that spot fair and square. I don't mind submitting to you," he winked at me. A smile played on my lips at his words.

"I just," he started, turning serious once again. "I wish you would have communicated with everyone in the pack when you left. Not just Seth and Jacob."

The accusation in his voice caught me off guard.

"Embry, Seth is my brother," I said cooly.

"And Jake is what? Your boyfriend?"

"My Alpha!" I quickly retorted. "Our Alpha!"

Embry started angrily mumbling something unintelligible under his breath to which my irritation with him picked up.

"Speak up, can't hear you," I grunted.

"I'm your pack brother, Leah. Don't you think I'd like to know how the fuck you're doing sometimes?"

"Why would you, you never cared before?" I shot back at him.

"No, you never gave me a chance to care before! I was always there, Leah, if you really wanted to talk. It's just you were too busy being mad at the world!" He exclaimed.

I could only hope that he didn't notice the slight flinch at his words before I quickly tightened up.

"It's funny because I don't hear Quil complaining that I didn't talk to him when I left," I countered.

He gave an exasperated sigh. "When has Quil ever given a fuck about anything except eating, sleeping, and shitting. Maybe if we lived a normal life, he'd care about other important things like joining a fraternity and seeing how many girls he could fuck during freshman week," he said sarcastically. "But we don't live a normal life, so the only other thing he cares about is Claire. You know it and I know it."

I stared at him for a moment before speaking. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying, my pack is the closest thing to a family that I have. It'd be nice if you thought of me as family too," he groaned.

"I, uh," I stumbled over my words. "I didn't know you felt that way."

He scoffed. "Yeah, well it's hard to notice when you're focused on someone else."

"Excuse me?" I said tilting my head in confusion.

"Did you forget that I've been inside your head before?"

I crossed my arms across my chest, holding myself, half self conscious and half angry. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He smugly lifted an eyebrow and gave me a pitiful look. "You have a thing for men who will leave you."

I took in a sharp breath of shock at his words. He had the decency to look remorseful at what I guessed was anger and pain written on my face. Sadly, my anger was less at him personally as it was at the truth behind his words. However, I always had to point my anger somewhere, and he was the most worthy target.

"Leah, look, I didn't mean it like that. I'm sor-" He started, but I didn't let him finish.

As if reflex, I hooked him in the jaw paired with an eerie crack. I continued staring at him, but my glare was no longer icy. My face softened to sadness because although I'd never admit it to him, he'd just hurt my feelings.

He cradled his jaw and wiggled it back into place. "Shit. Leah, you've got a nasty right."

"Fuck you." It was soft, but it held pure spite.

"Fuck me?" He laughed the words, questioning my anger towards him. "You can say 'fuck you' to me, but have you ever even had the will to actually say those words to Sam?"

Shock and anger etched across my face once more as my mouth dropped at his words. I wound back to punch him again, but he caught my hand leaning in towards me. Our faces were only centimeters apart, and I leaned back slightly in shock.

"It's 'fuck you' to me?" He said sternly as he held my eyes with his intense stare. "Even though _I'm_ the one who would never hurt you," he growled.

My breath hitched as his glare intensified. He was still holding my fist and I searched his face not knowing what to say.

"Ooo shit, what's going on in here?"

Embry and I both turned our heads in the direction that the words came from. Rachel wiggled her eyebrows as she came walking in through the back door. Bianca followed behind her with a curious look on her face. I quickly snatched my hand from Embry's and turned towards them.

"Embry just happened to stop by, we were catching up," I lied quickly.

"Riiiight," Rachel smirked. "Well, don't let us interrupt the happy reunion."

"I just thought we should check up on you," Bianca spoke up. "You didn't come back outside so I was making sure you were good."

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, B," I assured her.

She looked between me and Embry a couple times before giving me a look of approval. "I'm sure you are."

"Wait, what happened?" Embry gave me a look of concern.

"Nothing that you need to worry about," I shot back at him coldly.

Bianca looked between me and Embry a few more times before bugging her eyes out at me. It was obvious she wanted an explanation and an introduction. One I wasn't going to give to her because Embry was at the top of my shitlist at the moment, and he didn't deserve to be introduced to my friends. Had Bianca and Rachel not walked in, I may have been able to shove his balls down his throat by now.

"Who is this?" Bianca finally asked, not one to be ignored.

"Hi, I'm Embry," he reached his arm out around me towards Bianca. "Nice to meet you, you must be Leah's roommate."

"Yeah, I'm Bianca," she grinned goofily shaking his hand. "Just when I think you Quileute men can't get any hotter, you do."

Embry laughed and thanked her, but I gave him a perplexed frown.

"How'd you know she was my roommate?"

"Just because you don't talk to me doesn't mean I don't check up on you via Jacob and Seth," he shrugged.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, although internally I was kind of shocked anyone gave that much of a shit about what I was doing. I looked over to where Rachel was. She was headed for the whiskey again.

"Didn't Paul say no more whiskey, Rach?" I called across the room.

"Fuck that," she loudly yelled unnecessarily. "I can do what I want." She grabbed the bottle from the freezer. "'Sides, it's been like an hour since I drank, and this is supposed to be a party," she reasoned.

"This is a shit party then," I murmured.

"Yeah, it's a shit party without you. I see all those douchebags everyday. I came here for you," Rachel said, leaning on the counter.

"Yeah. We're all here for Leah," Embry winked at me.

I angrily growled at him in response.

"Woah," Bianca laughed in shock and amusement. "Leah, did you just fucking growl?"

I laughed nervously and exchanged a glance with Rachel who shrugged and took a swig of Jack, obviously nonchalant since it wasn't her who slipped up this time. Bianca continued laughing like I had just told the funniest joke in the world.

"How'd you do that?" She grabbed my arm. "You sounded exactly like a dog!"

"Yeah," Embry said with mock enthusiasm. "Leah sounds just like a chihuahua! Yanno, little dog, ferocious attitude!"

Rachel snickered from where she sat as I shot Embry a deathly scowl.

"So," Rachel changed the subject. 'What are you gonna do about Mr. and Mrs. Asswipe to be?"

"Sam and Emily I'm guessing? Something happen?" Embry asked.

"Once again, nuh-thing," I broke the word into two syllables. "That _you_ need to worry about," I sighed. "But yes, who else."

"Actually, it is something I need to worry about because like I said before, I'm in the wedding too," Embry replied.

"You are?" Bianca perked up with a smile. I frowned at her enthusiasm.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, you're the best man, Cally Wally," Rachel cheered in a sing song voice, taking another sip of alcohol.

"Best man?!" I shrieked. "They made _you_ the best man? What? How?"

"When, where, why?" Embry countered sarcastically. "They made _you_ the maid of honor. Why is it so hard to believe I'm the best man?"

"Because!" I yelled.

"Because?" Embry asked me pushing me to continue.

"Because…" I trailed of, unsure of where I was going with this.

"Because of the wonderful things he does!" Rachel yelled, laughing at her _Wizard of Oz_ reference.

I rolled my eyes as Bianca let her know that it was a "good one."

"No, Embry, seriously. Why you? Why not Jared, or Paul?" I asked.

"I got Paul into classes at the Community College in Port Angeles. He never was the smartest cookie, so I spend most of our free time tutoring him...among other things," Rachel chimed in. "And Jared is in police academy, you know."

"Really?" I actually had no idea.

"Yeah, and Quil has to take Claire to ballet lessons. Jake, not that he would ever be asked, has to be a guard dog," Embry started before Rachel threw an orange at his head at the indirect mention of Renesme and vampires.

He glared at her before turning back to me. "So, in conclusion, I'm the best man for the same reason you're the Maid of Honor. I was asked. Potentially a peace offering," He shrugged. "But most likely because we're the only ones with nothing better to do."

A soft gasp escaped my lips and Bianca looked at me awaiting my reaction. I wanted to say something rude and to argue, but, to be honest, he was right. Although I wasn't sure why he of all people would need a peace offering from Sam and Emily.

"So we walk down the aisle together and give speeches at the reception, big whoop. It's not like the best man has much of a job anyway." I rolled my eyes.

"You and I both know that Emily is going to make this whole process more difficult than it needs to be. Therefore, as the best man, I'm just letting you know that I'm willing to be here for support. Moral and otherwise," Embry shrugged.

"He's right," Rachel chimed in agreement. "I told you. Bride-fucking-zilla."

"Thanks, but that's why I brought Bianca," I said curtly.

"Oh right, I forgot Leah Clearwater is a lone wolf," Embry rolled his eyes.

"Well I think that's really nice of you, Embry," Bianca piped up. I glared at her, and she dismissed me with the wave of her hand.

"Are you coming to Sam and Emily's tomorrow?" Rachel asked me.

"Why the fuck would I?" I asked, disgusted by the thought.

"They're having some type of brunch thing for the wedding party tomorrow," Rachel shrugged.

"Ooo brunch?" Bianca chimed in. "Sounds bougie."

It was at Sam and Emily's, how bougie could it be. It would be a modest, thrown together brunch at best. I groaned.

"Yum, dry ass muffins and mimosas made with $3 champagne. My fave," I said sarcastically.

"You're too good for $3 champagne now?" Bianca laughed causing Rachel to return her compliment of a 'good one.' I shot them both a deathly look that screamed 'seriously?!'

"You sure I'm invited, they haven't mentioned it to me," I raised my eyebrows. Not that I had actually given them a chance to say much of anything to me. But I left that little detail out.

Embry shook his head. "Leah, I don't think you're grasping the whole 'maid of honor' thing. Of course you're invited. You _should_ be there."

I plopped down on the couch and let out dramatic sigh of agitation. The absolute last thing I wanted to deal with was Sam and Emily, yet they were the whole reason I was here. It was no avoiding them. Practically every day until after the wedding I would have to deal with them in some form. I grabbed a throw pillow from the couch and stretched it across my face.

"Leah, what are you doing?" Bianca asked in a humorously confused tone.

"Suffocating myself," I said, my words muffled under the pillow. "Leave me here to die!"

Embry snatched the pillow from my hand so quickly I didn't have a chance to attempt to fight him off. "Give it up, drama queen. Not happening."

I let out another dramatically exasperated sigh. "Ugh, when is this party over? I just want to sleep this day off and pretend like it never happened."

"You should probably say bye to your guests, Lee. They're here to see you. You leave, they leave," Bianca advised. I threw my head back in annoyance and groaned at the pure logic that would never work on the illogical people in my life.

"Please," I rolled my eyes. "My homecoming was just a reason to have a get together. No one is really here solely for me."

"I am," Embry smirked at me.

"Me too!" Rachel eagerly agreed.

"Me three," Bianca nudged my shoulder.

"My brother too," Rachel winked at me. A smile played on my lips as the heat of embarrassment rose into my cheeks.

"I'm sure he is," Embry mumbled under his breath so low that only I heard it. I started to say something in return, but that would raise too many questions from Rachel and Bianca.

"I refuse to go back out there," I concluded, choosing to ignore Embry rather than egg on the conversation.

"Don't worry, I'm sure grandma Emily has to be in bed soon. She must get her complete eight hours if she's going to be up for a full day of making muffins and pancakes tomorrow," Rachel rolled her eyes.

I stifled the laugh of spite I would usually give to Emily bashing.

"Come on, Rach. I'm trying to be the bigger person," I complained.

"Eh, suit yourself," she shrugged, taking another sip of whiskey. "I've got jokes for days."

We continued to laugh and talk for a while, well, Rachel did most of the talking. She told us about her gig at Forks High teaching AP classes and how much she hated it. She also talked about how she wanted to see the world with Paul before they got married or had any kids. I was happy that she wasn't letting imprinting decide every aspect of her life for her. Embry stood quietly with his arms folded across his chest and I desperately wondered why he wouldn't just go outside with the rest of the guys. I did my best to ignore him, but I could feel his eyes on me at times. Like he was searching me from the inside out.

"Leah?" I heard a soft voice call out in the middle of our talk. We all looked to the direction from which it came only to see Emily walking towards us. I groaned internally, trying my best to be as cool as possible on the outside.

"Hey, Em, what's up?" I said with fake enthusiasm.

She smiled at me nervously, but I noticed that she was alone this time. I half expected Sam to follow behind her at any moment, but he didn't.

"Hey, we were about to head out, but I wanted to say bye first," Emily rocked on the balls of her feet, Something she'd always done when she was uncomfortable. I guess I would feel uncomfortable too with the way Bianca and Rachel were staring her down.

"Bye." It came out short and rude. I saw the look of sadness and regret cross her face, and I immediately felt bad. I hadn't meant to sound so harsh.

"I, um. I'm, like, really glad I got to see you," I lied with a smile I hoped didn't look as forced as it felt.

Emily's face lit up, and I tried not to look disgusted at the sincere smile she gave me in return.

"I'm so glad I got see you too! I missed you!" Emily beamed.

Rachel fake choked in response, and I shot her reprimanding look although that's exactly how I felt.

"Right," I grinned. "Um, just let me know if you need anything. Maid of honor duties and all that good stuff."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Emily waved her hand. "You know about the brunch tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, I'll be there."

"Great! We can discuss your dress and anything else then. Thank you so much again for being my maid of honor. I am so happy to have you there for me," Emily beamed.

I prayed the plastered fake smile on my face wasn't turning into a grimace.

"Bye, Emily," I waved, trying not to seem too eager for her to leave.

"Well, that was hard to watch," Rachel laughed once Emily had walked outside and was out of earshot.

I ran my fingers through my hair. "If my life had a slogan, that would be it."

Just then, Paul, Seth, and Jacob came inside making the living room feel cramped.

"Wow, why didn't anyone tell us the party was in here?" Paul questioningly threw his hands up and looked around.

"Embry, I didn't know you made it. Why didn't you come outside?" Jacob said coming to stand opposite of me.

"Yeah, uh, I was talking to Leah," he paused, crossing his arms over his chest. "And Bianca and your sister too. Must've lost track of time."

Jacob gave him a strange look, and once again, Embry's face was hard and smug. I looked between them, but they were both staring at each other. They stood like that for multiple moments. It was like they were communicating without saying any words, and it was kind of weird. I looked over to Seth to see if this was a normal occurrence, but he looked confused too. Even Paul and Rachel were staring perplexedly at them so I knew Bianca was lost as fuck.

"I think we're gonna get ready to head out," Paul said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, I'm gonna need my full eight hours too to deal with Cruella DeBride tomorrow," Rachel agreed.

"Well, thanks for coming, I'll probably head to bed soon too. We had a long day," I looked over at Bianca who was whispering something to my brother and not paying any attention to me. I turned my attention back to Rachel, giving her a hug goodbye.

"It was so good seeing you today, Rach, honestly," I said releasig her from the hug.

"I hope you sincerely mean that, and not in the same way you told Emily," she laughed. "Because it was great seeing you too. It's been lonely around here without you, Lee."

I gave a shy smile in return to her words. Maybe I could salvage my friendship with Rachel into the one we used to have in high school. At least then I'd have something from La Push worth keeping.

"Bye Bro!" Rachel punched Jacob in the arm, grabbing his attention from the weird eye contact communication standoff he was doing with Embry.

"See you, sis," he gave her a quick hug before focusing on me with a soft smile. I couldn't help but return it.

"Everything good, Leah?" Jacob nudged me before placing an arm around my shoulder.

I leant into him and nodded in return. I looked over to where Embry stood, but is face showed no readable emotion. He simply cocked an eyebrow at me to which I quickly looked away.

"I'm serious about hitting the sack. Should I take the couch?" I asked Seth.

"What do you mean? Like sleep on the couch?" He gave me a quizzical look.

"Yes, Seth. Obviously," I groaned.

"Why would you do that?" He looked genuinely confused.

"Well, I'll take the couch so that Bianca can take my bed."

"But why, when you could just-" He paused, seemingly having caught himself mid sentence. "You know what, Bianca can have my bed, I'll sleep on the couch." He suggested with a nervous smile.

I squinted my eyes at him with accusation. He rubbed the back of his neck, still smiling. He was hiding something. I looked to Jacob who also gave me a less nervous, and more reassuring smile. Then, I looked to Embry whose face was blank.

I shook my head, too tired to figure out what Seth was doing a horrible job of covering up. "Fine. Will you all help get our bags out of the car and bring them upstairs?" I asked the guys.

"Sure thing, sis!" Seth eagerly agreed.

Jacob took his arm from around me and headed for the door. I looked over at Embry who was still staring blankly at me with his arms crossed. Our eyes met, and held me there for a few moments before he finally headed towards the door.

"What was that about?" Bianca asked coming to stand next to me.

"I have no idea," I whispered, still watching the empty doorway. Finally, I turned to Bianca. "Come on, I'll show you where you're sleeping. Don't worry, I'll make him change the sheets," I laughed.

I lead her up the stairs to where Seth and my childhood bedrooms were. After dropping her at Seth's room, I went to my own. The door was closed, obviously untouched since I'd seen it last. I opened the door, and lo and behold, everything was the same. The items on my dresser were still an unorganized mess of lotion, perfume, and jewelry. My bookshelf had collected a little dust, but still held all of my childhood favorites. My bed was still half made. There was a pair of cut-off shorts in the corner of my room that I had thrown off, too lazy to pick them up and place them in my hamper. I walked over to the cork board full of pictures on my wall, one of the only points of decoration my tiny room held anymore. Mostly all the pictures had been destroyed because they either included Sam, Emily, or both. I picked up one of the few pictures left on it, a picture of us. The pack. _Our_ pack. Jake, me, Seth, Embry, and Quil. It was taken on my brother's birthday. I originally didn't want the picture, but my mom insisted I have it and place it on my pathetic picture board. I smiled at the photo, we all looked younger, but it was one of the rare occasions we all looked happy...even me.

I plopped down on my bed and let out a deep sigh. My room was not to be a metaphor of how things were now. That everything was exactly how I'd left it, and all I had to do was open the door and fall back into my rightful place. Something told me that nothing was the same.

And I wasn't sure how I felt about that.


End file.
